Sunday, April 18, 2010

International Quilt Festival - Chicago

Well, it has been a little while since I have posted. My "real" job seems to get in the way!! That and I am still battling back pain that is driving me crazy. Hard to sit for long so I never get much done!!! I am done with P.T. and will most likely have to have the spinal injections in order to get this to all settle down. P.T. and the drugs and yoga and the chiropractor just aren't cutting it!!!

Anyway, on to bigger and better things! I went to the Quilt Festival at the Donald E. Stephens convention center (better known to long time locals as the Rosemont)near Chicago. It was great. So many wonderful quilts on display and some marvelous exhibitors too. Of course I forgot my camera so I only have pictures of the things I bought!!! I had so much fun!
My first purchase of the day was from a cute little shop called Fabric on a Whim. I bought a book, some Lutrador, Golden gel, a little needle pack to make and some $1.25
fat quarters. The young lady that owns the shop, Kristin Rodriguez was a delight to talk to. She was demonstrating some snippets landscapes and was very eager to talk to everyone and answer all our questions.




I also bought some beautiful fabric from BaBa Blankets. This is actually a wonderful organization that helps women in Africa. It is called a social enterprise. Their mission is to create inspiring cultural works that provide sustainable income and well-deserved development opportunities for African women and girls. Their website is www.babablanket.com if you are interested in checking them out.


I found this fabulous fabric from a designer named Terrie Hancock Mangat. Her website is TerrieStudio.com The fabric line I bought from is called Los Santos. I absolutely loved it. It is very southwestern. She also had a fabric line with Buddha's but I couldn't afford both. I think I will save some money and order some of that next.
I plan on making a quilt for the pastor at the parish where I teach. He is really into Mary and our parish is very hispanic and does quite a celebration for Our Lady of Guadalupe in December.













I also bought these neat rubber rubbing mats to be used with the Shiva Paintstiks. I bought the stiks back at Christmas and I haven't really known what to do with them. I saw this and was intrigued by the star designs so I thought I would give them a try. They are designed by a Laura Murray.


I also met a wonderful lady named Kelli Perkins who does mixed media designs. She was also very willing to answer questions and encourage you to try new things. I did not buy her book at the show, but I later came home and went to Joann Fabrics and bought the book there with my half price coupon. The name of the book is Stitch Alchemy. I can't wait to try some of her techniques!!



I also got to meet Judy Coates Perez. She is actually from the Chicago area but I have never had the opportunity to meet her. She was very interesting to talk with. After I left the show, I stopped at Joann Fabrics and picked up her DVD on Mixed-media painted fabric.



I also got two books to use as tracing books for designs. They are in the picture with the Fabric on a Whim description. I got one on Mexican Folk Art and one on Traditional African designs. These are not copyrighted so I can use them in any of my designs.

I also participated in a workshop with Kritin Rodriguez and made a mixed media canvas.




To end this incredibly long post I will show you a picture of the first thing I have ever bought on ebay! I actually bidded for it and won. My son's girlfriend loves all things Harry Potter. (she is a junior in college so you are never too old!) I want to make her a Harry Potter quilt but there is no fabric to be found. So I looked on ebay and found this piece. I got it for $10. I truly believe it was a bargain. I love it and I am sure she will love the quilt when I get it done. This piece of course will be the centerpiece of the quilt!



Well, I do believe that is it for now. I am hoping that once school gets out in the beginning of June I will get lots of time to create and post!! Please bear with me till then. Until next time, I hope everyone has a great week!!!

2 comments:

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    Bauer Chiropractic

    ReplyDelete